MAC Unsung Heroes: Melon Pigment

Here in Marin County — how should I put this? — tie-die is the new black. 🙂 I joke, but this area is a mecca for different ways of thinking, and while my younger self probably would have giggled at some of the self-improvement techniques I’ve been trying lately, my older self has more of an open mind.

One of my new favorite things is to sit on my deck at sunset and mentally list all of the good things that happened that day. Some days the list is shorter than others, but I can usually come up with at least one or two things.

Plus, there’s a great side effect of catching a good sunset: makeup inspiration.

Yesterday, right as the sun dipped below the horizon, the sky turned a golden cantaloupe that looked just like today’s Unsung Hero, MAC Melon Pigment ($20 for a 0.15-oz. jar).

Sometimes the mess factor keeps me from playing with loose pigments. Maybe I’m just a klutz, but I always find a way to get loose shadow in the sink, on my clothes, on the cat and in my hair. Even so, I regularly make exceptions for Melon.

Like a slice of sweet, ripe cantaloupe sprinkled with golden glitter, it looks peachy gold from some angles and pure gold from others.

Delish!

It loves lids, too, making them look all shiny and perky, like one of those hella annoying people who gets eight hours of sleep every night (you know who you are!).

Improv pasta!

Until I make it to the grocery store this week, the pickin’s around here are pretty slim, but I did have enough pasta left in the cupboard to make this little dish with crimini mushrooms, spinach, garlic and parmesan cheese. It wasn’t bad, but I could have eased up on the EVOO.

What was on your plate this evening (both food and otherwise)?

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

The MAC Unsung Heroes series features some of my favorite products from MAC’s permanent collection

I’m recently digging golden peachy shadows ! Been pairin my new Urban Decay loose pigment in “X” with some bronzes, pinks, o browns, and also the cream shadow in “Whipped” as a highlighter.
“on the cat” hahaha. Does Tabs get nosy like my Daphne does when you’re doing your makeup? Once she’s done her breakfast she’s up in my makeup mirror all “whatcha doooooin’ can I have more foooood?” teehee 🙂

What a beautiful, glowy look that pigment gives you. I’ve learned my lesson one too many times about my ability to get the loose pigments from their container to the eyelid without “incident”, unfortunately.

Your pasta looks yummy. Today I cooked up some tempeh with leeks, frozen mixed veggies (broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower), and various unappreciated spices from the spice rack.

Ya know, I want to love tempeh and feel like I should, but I have yet to have any that really moves my soul. Is there a particular brand you like? And do you do any tricks to yours, like marinating it, etc.?

Tempeh is so good for you and an easier to digest version of soy protein. It can be bitter and dry, though, so I get the Trader Joe’s brand, crumble it into a pan where I’ve sauteed some onions and garlic, then I add enough vegetable broth to cover and boil it for about 15 minutes. This softens the texture and takes out the bitterness. Then you’re left with something that resembles ground meat. I love to add some tomato are marinara sauce to it and then use this as a “meaty” pasta sauce.

I keep debating about whether or not I should finally purchase this product. I think it’s SO lovely, but I just don’t know if I’ll ever use enough of it to justify a purchase (loose powder products and I don’t mix :p).dani@callitbeauty recently posted … I Guess I Could Used Another Blot Powder…

Heritage rouge, Tan, Smoke signal, Mutiny and Spiritualize. All of them are really beautiful. Specially Mutiny which is a gorgeous light blue one. Do you have any of these? Would love some tips on how to put the colors together.

You could take a bit with your clean brush and press it into the lid of the jar. That’s what I do to compact it a bit and then I dust the brush first. Next, I press that brush onto my eyelid (I usually prime with UDPP and a creamy base like MAC Paint Pots). If you’re worried about fallout, you can dust your under eye area with transparent powder, then when you’re done with your eye look, run a fluffy brush on the transparent powder and it will pick up the fallout.

Hmm I’ve yet to have a proper look at pigments. I’m such a klutz when it comes to blending that I feel I should sort that out before moving on to loose things; also, I should really pick up some primer!

Noted – heading to Space NK at the weekend to try it out! 😛 Especially since I’m having serious fallout with my NARS Calanque palette (that gorgeous first shade gets glitter all over my face) and I remember you saying the primer really helped.

Haha the gratin was a Jamie Oliver recipe, and I’m planning on posting the dessert recipe on my food blog – will let you know when it’s online! 😉

Hmm I’ve got a fluffy eyeshadow brush (Sephora I believe) that I use for the first two colours, and a flat one to apply the darker colour. Sounds like I got the wrong way around, I’ll give the other option a try tomorrow!

Oh dear, warm fruit tarts. And ice cream! I’ve decided to get a skillet just so I can bake a skillet-sized cookie and serve it straight from the pan with ice cream on it!

Oh that sounds so yummy, Ruchita! I tried to grow tomatoes a few years ago and was totally unsuccessful. I used a Topsy Turvy; have you heard of it? It’s this contraption that you hang from the ceiling that allows the plant to grow upside down so you don’t need to bother with propping it up:

Yep, I’ve seen that before! My “garden” is basically plants put into the mulch bed around hour house – definitely nothing fancy. 🙂 I can kill any sort of plant, but tomatoes are quite forvgiving. As long as they get plenty of water and good soil they do great!

They sell some types of plants that are small enough to put into a planter if you don’t have room to plant in the ground. And there’s this stuff called Sevin Dust that helps keep the bugs away.

Ours isn’t anything fancy, either. It’s a lot of overgrown stuff in the front and the “Tabs'” garden on the deck (it’s a miracle my zinnias are still alive… It’s like kitty crack to him).

I will have to check out Sevin Dust. When we had the tomatoes I tried using this organic spray made out of peppers, which ended up giving the tomatoes a very spicy flavor. El Hub looooved it but I didn’t (I don’t do spicy).

I don’t own melon but I totally should. You’ve inspired me to play with the pigments I have! I wish I had read this earlier. I had a $30 dillard’s card and no idea what to spend it on. But alas I already purchased some basic eyeshadows that I already depoted so I suppose I’m stuck with those. That’s okay I’ll just put this on my wishlist.

You look so glowy! 🙂 Melon is a very pretty color but I know better than to even open a loose pigment. For me, it would be a total mess waiting to happen.

Your pasta looks super-yummy and I’m very impressed with your portion control (says the gal who had 2 heaping bowls of mac and cheese for dinner). The deli gave me a lb of pastrami by mistake so I’d been making lemonade – in this case a pastrami reubens, subbing coleslaw for the sauerkraut – for days. We finally moved on last night. 🙂

I know you <3 glitter and was about to ask if you had any of MAC's Loose Glitters in your stash. I'm guessing no? 🙂

I'm hungry right now (lunch is 2 hours away... wah!) and two bowls of mac and cheese sounds so good right now. Do you make yours from scratch, or do you have a pre-made version that you and the boys like?

Oh, gosh – no. I wouldn’t trust myself with loose glitter. I think I’d end up looking like a bad macaroni self-portrait, done by a 1st grader! 🙂

I love my homemade mac & chz but the boys prefer the pre-fab. One will only eat Kraft and the other likes Stouffers. I’m hoping they’ll change their minds as they get older. Until then, I’m usually ingesting the orange cheese. 🙂

Btw, I read your comment earlier about the TJ’s tempeh tasting like feet and cardboard and I was totally laughing. Don’t you hate that? You try something new and healthy and after the first bite you’re thinking “oh, heavens, people do eat this; clearly I’ve done something wrong”. HAHA!

This looks amazing on you! I wish I could pull these kinds of colors off but they always end up looking orange on me. Both all that glitters and bronze looked hideous on me also. Guess warm colors just don’t like me. Curse my skintone!

I’ve heard all good things about Melon Pigment but considering how far I have to drive to find MAC, I may stick to the new Aveda shadow called Crushed Citrine. It doesn’t hurt that it’s in a pan either, making it more goof-proof on my vanity than Melon–but the sunset idea remains! Thanks, Karen, you always know how to brighten our days!AnieJ recently posted … Lotus Bio-Mineral Pressed Foundation SPF 20

Melon looks great on you! …And unfortunately, *terrible* on me! I picked up a sample of it once and felt like I had to turn in my makeup-nerd membership card after. It was that bad! But hey, if it looks good on 99% of people, it’s got to look bad on 1%, lol.

I actually just got Oro in the mail this morning! I’ve never tried Melon (mostly because I can never find it…), but I think Oro is a really nice golden-orange-bronze-y color. Now the only issue is not getting it all over myself and everything within a ten-foot radius!: 🙂